World's worst side-break?

[LeMartinPecheur]

Has there ever been a prize (booby-prize) for this? If so I have a top contender, IMHO opinion of course.

I was recently given an RCA LP called 'Horowitz Concerts 1977/ 1978 Golden Jubilee Recital' which, despite the title, seems to be a studio recording with excellent sound quality. Contents: the Liszt sonata and a couple of short Faure pieces, an impromptu and a nocturne. OK, not generously filled but never mind, it's Horowitz innit?:



So what have the stupid RCA b*gg*rs done?? They've split the sonata about 2/3 of the way through! It always fits comfortably on one side doesn't it?:


Real pity as it's a cracking performance as one might expect of Horowitz, and not one widely known or reissued as far as I can tell. (Did bad reviews on this point scupper the issue perhaps?) If anyone can route me to a CD version I well might be tempted.

Please nominate further 'side-splitting' inanities to pip this one, if you feel incensed enough!

[Ein Heldenleben]

Has there ever been a prize (booby-prize) for this? If so I have a top contender, IMHO opinion of course.

I was recently given an RCA LP called 'Horowitz Concerts 1977/ 1978 Golden Jubilee Recital' which, despite the title, seems to be a studio recording with excellent sound quality. Contents: the Liszt sonata and a couple of short Faure pieces, an impromptu and a nocturne. OK, not generously filled but never mind, it's Horowitz innit?:



So what have the stupid RCA b*gg*rs done?? They've split the sonata about 2/3 of the way through! It always fits comfortably on one side doesn't it?:


Real pity as it's a cracking performance as one might expect of Horowitz, and not one widely known or reissued as far as I can tell. (Did bad reviews on this point scupper the issue perhaps?) If anyone can route me to a CD version I well might be tempted.

Please nominate further 'side-splitting' inanities to pip this one, if you feel incensed enough!

If you are a Wagner fan it’s almost impossible to go to a performance without mentally turning over the disc every thirty minutes or so, I was a great fan of the Karajan Meistersinger and still do the odd double take when the perf rolls on without me flipping the vinyl over .I can even remember one or two scratches…

[Petrushka]

If you are a Wagner fan it’s almost impossible to go to a performance without mentally turning over the disc every thirty minutes or so, I was a great fan of the Karajan Meistersinger and still do the odd double take when the perf rolls on without me flipping the vinyl over .I can even remember one or two scratches…

It must be a lot worse if you were brought up on 78s!

I used to loathe the necessary side breaks in continuous works such as Ein Heldenleben, Eine Alpensymphonie, Daphnis et Chloe and a few more. Worst of all were those that inflicted a side break mid-movement. I still mentally get up and change the disc when listening to Beethoven's Pastoral because the Gewandhaus/Konwitschny recording I had put the side break while the peasants were making merry. One recording I had of he Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (forget whose, possibly Martinon) had the break at an awkward spot in the third movement.

Robert Philip did a series on Radio 3 many years ago which included some bizarre examples of how the record companies got round some of these awkward moments. I particularly remember Karl Böhm's 1936 Bruckner 4 which, instead of using another 78 for the scherzo repeat, had a voice come on advising the listener to play the previous disc again!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Most single disc recordings of Beethoven’s 9th had a horrible side break in the middle of the 3rd movement.

[Parry1912]

One recording I had of he Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (forget whose, possibly Martinon) had the break at an awkward spot in the third movement.

I seem to remember that the Concertgebouw/Davis one did.

And yet vinyl is making a comeback

[pastoralguy]

It wasn’t just Lps - it was, unforgivably, tapes as well. My father brought a very early DG cassette tape home from Japan that featured Karajan and The Berlin Philharmonic which had a side turn half way through the last movement of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony!

This was also mentioned in the Guide to Penguins when CBS inserted a tape turn during Rhapsody in Blue. Boy, were they scathing about what they saw as penny pinching?!

[pastoralguy]

And yet vinyl is making a comeback

I remember waiting to turn my first cd of Heldenleben over! What bliss when it carries straight.

[cloughie]

It must be a lot worse if you were brought up on 78s!

I used to loathe the necessary side breaks in continuous works such as Ein Heldenleben, Eine Alpensymphonie, Daphnis et Chloe and a few more. Worst of all were those that inflicted a side break mid-movement. I still mentally get up and change the disc when listening to Beethoven's Pastoral because the Gewandhaus/Konwitschny recording I had put the side break while the peasants were making merry. One recording I had of he Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (forget whose, possibly Martinon) had the break at an awkward spot in the third movement.

Robert Philip did a series on Radio 3 many years ago which included some bizarre examples of how the record companies got round some of these awkward moments. I particularly remember Karl Böhm's 1936 Bruckner 4 which, instead of using another 78 for the scherzo repeat, had a voice come on advising the listener to play the previous disc again!

Yes all those were bad - Up to the earl6 70s most Sym Fants were split in the ‘Scenes aux champs’ - I paricularly remember the Argenta on Ace of Diamonds - great PCO gallic sound with the infuriating cut. I also remember the Victrola Beethoven 9 BSO/Munch as probably the first one to have the first three movements on Side 1 - with a slightly deteriorating side end sound - 37 plus minutes was stretching the limit of the technology at the time!

[mathias broucek]

There was a Karajan Dvorak 8 where the side break was after the third movement even though iii-iv should be an attacca...

[Mario]

I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned what I thought was quite a famous side-break.

I’m referring to the Eroica, where the break on the LP came midway through the funeral march, just after the middle section’s climax (bar 104-5 in the score if one is handy). Was it on the Fontana label with Konwitschny and the Gewandhaus?

I also remember Thomas Heinitz in Bayswater London, close to where I lived, commenting on the Loughran/Hallé LP (can’t remember the label, sorry), that had an unusual format.

You started with placing your stylus very carefully in the middle band of side a, flipping the LP over for the second and third movements, and flipping again for the final movement, so you started and finished in the middle band of side a. It did mean you had to flip the LP twice, but that’s a small price to pay for an uninterrupted funeral march.

Mario

[Bryn]

. . . I also remember Thomas Heinitz in Bayswater London, close to where I lived, commenting on the Loughran/Hallé LP (can’t remember the label, sorry), that had an unusual format.

You started with placing your stylus very carefully in the middle band of side a, flipping the LP over for the second and third movements, and flipping again for the final movement, so you started and finished in the middle band of side a. It did mean you had to flip the LP twice, but that’s a small price to pay for an uninterrupted funeral march.

Mario

Another similar arrangement applied to the Saga Louis Kentner LP of Beethoven's Hammeklavier (Op. 106).

https://www.discogs.com/release/12259369-Louis-Kentner-Beethoven-Pianoforte-Sonata-No29-In-B-Flat-Major-Op106

"Notes on back of sleeve
Please read carefully before playing and note the order of movements
The playing time of the Adagio, Which in this recording is a few seconds short of nineteen minutes accounts for the unconventional lay-out of the movements this arrangement enables the Adagio to be played WITHOUT A BREAK of continuity. Such a scheme was not undertaken without prolonged and careful thought and in the belief that from a musical point of view purchasers of the record would prefer it this way."

[EnemyoftheStoat]

I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned what I thought was quite a famous side-break.

I’m referring to the Eroica, where the break on the LP came midway through the funeral march, just after the middle section’s climax (bar 104-5 in the score if one is handy). Was it on the Fontana label with Konwitschny and the Gewandhaus?

I also remember Thomas Heinitz in Bayswater London, close to where I lived, commenting on the Loughran/Hallé LP (can’t remember the label, sorry), that had an unusual format.

You started with placing your stylus very carefully in the middle band of side a, flipping the LP over for the second and third movements, and flipping again for the final movement, so you started and finished in the middle band of side a. It did mean you had to flip the LP twice, but that’s a small price to pay for an uninterrupted funeral march.

Mario

I think that was on the Enigma label.

[Bryn]

I think that was on the Enigma label.

Indeed. I was fortunate enough to find a set in good condition in a hospice charity shop a few years ago. Loughran's survey of the symphonies is long overdue a CD or download release.

[Bryn]

A couple of inventive solutions to awkward side breaks were Berio's Laborintus II (Harmonia Mundi) and Terry Riley's In C (CBS/Sony). Early CD versions of both retained the swirling side break disruption. As far as I know, the Berio recording still does.

[Pulcinella]

The problems didn't end with the LP to CD switch though.
Alpie recently reported an unfortunate break in the 2CD ECO/Mackerras Messiah set:

I was surprised that the CD change occurs immediately after “Surely, He hath borne our griefs”, which should be followed (attacca) by “And with his stripes”. Perhaps at time of the CD release, it was seen as unacceptable to exceed the 80 minute limit.

And the Bartok String quartets present a problem if they're ordered chronologically (The Emerson set I have couples 1,3,5/2,4,6; the Keller set opts for 1,2,4/3,5,6); the famous 1963 Juilliard set is chronological, with the break after the first movement of SQ4, which is less than ideal. The Fine Arts keeps chronological order too, but extends to 3 CDs, with the third being filled by a discussion they gave on TV about SQ1.